Britain will have more broadband-enabled households than its European neighbours by 2008, new research indicates. Britain will top the European league table for most homes with high-speed broadband access by 2008, a study released on Thursday said. According to research firm ScreenDigest, the United Kingdom will leap-frog Germany and France in the next five years with 12.7 million broadband households, a growth of 47 percent over that period.

Germany, currently the largest broadband Internet market, will have 12.6 million households and France will have 10.8 million households in 2008, ScreenDigest forecasted. Rounding out the top five European broadband markets in 2008 is Italy at 7.59 million homes and Spain with 7.58 million homes, ScreenDigest said.

The research firm said each of the Big Five West European nations will experience double-digit growth rates over the next five years, important news for telecommunications and cable operators who are investing heavily in broadband deployment.